S.F. landlord Sangiacomo ready for Trinity

SUNDAY PROFILE / Angelo Sangiacomo

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, May 2, 2010

Angelo Sangiacomo, 84 years old, who owns the most apartment buildings in San Francisco, in his penthouse office at Trinity Place on Market St on Monday, March 8, 2010.

Angelo Sangiacomo, 84 years old, who owns the most apartment buildings in San Francisco, in his penthouse office at Trinity Place on Market St on Monday, March 8, 2010.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

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Angelo Sangiacomo, 84 years old, who owns the most apartment buildings in San Francisco, in the kitchen of his penthouse office at Trinity Place on Market St on Monday, March 8, 2010.

Angelo Sangiacomo, 84 years old, who owns the most apartment buildings in San Francisco, in the kitchen of his penthouse office at Trinity Place on Market St on Monday, March 8, 2010.

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

S.F. landlord Sangiacomo ready for Trinity

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As a boy, Angelo Sangiacomo worked alongside his Genoese father, who built houses in San Francisco's outer avenues. Unlike his dad, young Angelo was not mechanically inclined - a contractor he would not be.

But Sangiacomo listened intently to his father's Old World lessons - hard work, discipline, ambition - and applied them to a different path in the real estate business.

One message stood out above all else and shaped Sangiacomo's future decisions: Buy real estate and never sell it.

Now 85, Sangiacomo has long since left behind the modest Richmond District flat where he was born and raised in the 1920s and '30s.

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He lives in a towering wood, glass and concrete house west of Twin Peaks, where he can look across the street at the homes he had constructed for each of his seven children. He also can survey the vast apartment and retail portfolio he has amassed - thought to be one of the most valuable in San Francisco.

While Sangiacomo's socioeconomic status has risen and the city has changed, he continues to be governed by the principles he learned in his youth. And he is still going strong.

Not stereotypical

Wiry and bespectacled, Sangiacomo has a broad smile, quick-wit charm and the energy of a much younger man. But he does not cut the stereotypical bon vivant, real estate mogul profile. Instead, he attends Mass nearly every day and, rather than play golf, swims laps for exercise.

Sangiacomo and his wife, Yvonne, say the couple spend nearly all their free time with family, traveling to Italy as often as they can, or to their houses at Lake Tahoe or Pebble Beach. A regular family destination is a compound outside of Genoa including eight houses and a small castle that Sangiacomo had remade over a 10-year span.

Architectural Digest and other publications have featured Sangiacomo's projects, and his success has enabled him to contribute generously to local charities.

But Sangiacomo's path to success has not always been smooth.

He was aggressively ambitious when he was younger and retains a reputation as a hard-nosed businessman. For many San Franciscans, Sangiacomo will always be known as the "Father of Rent Control" for his steep rent increases in the late 1970s that put him at odds with City Hall - and his name in headlines.

As Sangiacomo tells it, he saw rent control coming - it had recently been implemented in other cities - and believed it was unfair for wealthy tenants to lock in low rents. In one Chronicle story of the time, he called those renters "Gucci-slipper kids" who drove Jaguars.

In recent months, the "Father of Rent Control" moniker resurfaced as Sangiacomo's builders put the finishing touches on Trinity Place, a 24-story residential tower, which is the first phase in the transformation of a corner at Eighth and Market streets long dominated by a forlorn former motel.

Unusual agreement

In the end, Sangiacomo agreed to a deal in which the tattered motel's rent-controlled housing would be demolished, but replaced in the new building, just yards away. The deal was historic because under state law, when a rent-controlled building is removed, the property on which it sat no longer is subject to rent control.

The motel's tenants were given new apartments governed by the same rent rules as their old units. Rents are well below market rates and cannot be brought to market until a tenant leaves. Even then, annual increases are restricted.

Sangiacomo got something in return for the unique arrangement. There will be four new buildings - instead of one- on the property, and each is allowed to house more people than is permitted under density rules in the area.

Indeed, Sangiacomo has said he did not make the compromise out of the kindness of his heart.

"If I had had it my way, I would have built a huge, tall, high-rise there," he said. "I bought that thing (the motel) to tear it down and build new apartments 30 years ago."

Asked why he never walked away from the property given all its headaches, Sangiacomo invokes a familiar refrain.

"We never sell!" he said. "That's our business; you buy the son of a bitch and you hold on to it. Every time you don't buy, you make a mistake."

Sangiacomo attributes much of his world view to growing up in a loving family proud of its Italian heritage. His parents moved to San Francisco seeking economic opportunity. As a boy, he spoke Italian at home and attended catechism classes. He still clearly remembers family picnics in Golden Gate Park.

Early lessons

In addition to helping his father, Sangiacomo found other work and employed another family philosophy that he repeats to this day: "Something good always comes out of a bad situation."

As an example, he recalled his career as a newspaper carrier. Sangiacomo's Call-Bulletin route was out in the avenues' single-family neighborhoods, where he had to collect money door to door, which took hours and often was unsuccessful. "People would move away and you'd never here from them again," Sangiacomo said.

So Sangiacomo maneuvered his way into delivering papers to downtown properties with office buildings and hotels, where he could collect all the money in one place.

Sangiacomo also likes telling the story of his first real estate purchase. He had graduated from the University of San Francisco with $1,000 saved from the paper route and other odd jobs and borrowed another $1,000 from his sister. With that, he bought a small cottage in the avenues and rented it out for $75 a month. It is no surprise when he says he still owns the property.

Growing up, Sangiacomo formed close friendships within and outside the Italian community, many of which he maintains today.

Sangiacomo's longtime friends say he always was a go-getter.

"He's been an interesting guy to me," said the Rev. John LoSchiavo, 85, a former president of the University of San Francisco, who has known Sangiacomo since they were 7. "When we were kids he was always alert and aware of what was going on - things I didn't even notice - and he was hard working."

When Sangiacomo was in his early 30s, at a party thrown by a Realtor friend on Geary Street, he met Yvonne Giuntoli, the daughter of Bimbo Giuntoli, owner of Bimbo's 365 Club in North Beach. Yvonne was 22 and in acting school at the time. Her family also hailed from Italy.

The two were married in 1956 and set out to have a family. They had four girls and three boys in nine years and now have 13 grandchildren.

Yvonne gave up acting and became a homemaker. She also is active in charity, organizing fundraising campaigns. Every other year, for example, she puts together the Red Tie Gala that supports St. Anne's Home for the elderly in San Francisco.

Unfair moniker

Yvonne is still mad that her husband was branded with the rent control title. She said that Sangiacomo has contributed a lot to good causes, but does not toot his own horn.

Still, spats with the city were not uncommon for Sangiacomo throughout his career, and some turned out better than others.

When Sangiacomo talked about tearing down Trinity Plaza and building new towers, affordable housing advocate Randy Shaw allied with Daly, the city supervisor, and helped write legislation to stop Sangiacomo from demolishing the old motel.

Over time, Shaw saw Sangiacomo's ability to compromise.

"He did not come to the decision to build the rent controlled units willingly, but he deserves credit for listening and realizing that he needed to make a deal," Shaw said. "Some people wouldn't have been able to do that."

Powerful support

While Sangiacomo has had notable fights with city leaders, he also has received support from influential businesspeople.

He notes that his business efforts were backed by San Francisco's Italian community. Banks and other real estate developers helped him out, he said.

"I had a license to steal with the Bank of America because they were all Genoese," Sangiacomo said.

Sangiacomo also hired Italians for some important jobs. Robert Arrigoni designed 21 houses for Sangiacomo, including his house in the San Francisco hills, a vacation home on the 18th hole of Pebble Beach and the village in Italy.

Like Yvonne, Arrigoni has Tuscan roots. Arrigoni's family also was well-known in San Francisco because his father opened the first Joe's restaurant on Broadway in the city, which then spawned the other Original Joe's.

As part of designing the vacation home at Pebble Beach, Arrigoni and Sangiacomo visited Sardinia and researched the architecture there. Arrigoni said that Sangiacomo is an exacting boss whose strong work ethic has not diminished - he's always involved in the decision-making and pushing people to do their best.

"He challenges you constantly and forces you to re-evaluate what you're doing," Arrigoni said. "You get to a point where you end up with a better building."

Sangiacomo has spent far more time working on architectural designs than playing golf at Pebble Beach. He says he gave up the game because it took away too much time from designing - and buying - buildings.

Sangiacomo does not say what the future holds in store for all his properties. Only one daughter is involved in the business full time, and he is not ready to retire.

Selling real estate, it would seem, is not an option.

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